Utensil and chopsticks figurine

ABSTRACT

A utensil and chopsticks figurine for play and the preparation, presentation, and consumption of food which may comprise one or more of at least one of the following: a pair of chopsticks, two or more additional extending members, a bowled recess, tines, a knife, feet, and a figurine. The utensil is made of one piece of continuous material and may be jumped by pressing down on it in the same direction as the additional extending members and releasing. The utensil may also be stacked conveniently.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is in the technical field of food utensils. More particularly, the present invention combines the function of a spoon, fork, spork, or knife, and chopsticks with an ornamental figurine.

2. Description of Related Art

Spoons, forks, sporks, and knives are commonly used in the preparation, presentation and consumption of food. Sporks are a type of utensil combining the function of both a spoon and a fork into one piece of cutlery. Chopsticks originated in the Eastern world as a commonly used utensil for Asian cuisine. The already ubiquitous use of chopsticks includes a traditional version comprised of only two member chopsticks, as well as additional variants that may include connecting hinges and additional cutlery components.

Ornamental utensils may feature various designs and come in different shapes and configurations for entertainment and stylistic purposes. Prior use of ornamental cutlery includes decorated utensils such as collectible silverware, while children's utensils may feature ornamental features and varieties of color, size, and shape. Prior ornamental utensils for children include spoons, forks, sporks, and chopsticks that may feature cartoon characters, caricatures of people, and easy-to-use handles.

Some utensils used in the preparation, presentation, and consumption of food have features for ease of use and operation. Adaptive eating utensils, for example, have been modified for the elderly, disabled, and senior citizens to more easily grasp and operate said utensils while eating.

SUMMARY

The scope of the present invention is defined solely by the appended claims and detailed description and not affected to any degree by the statements within this summary. The present description is directed towards an integrated spork and chopsticks figurine utensil, which may comprise one or more of at least one of the following: a pair of chopsticks, two or more additional extending members, a bowled recess, tines, a knife, feet, and a figurine; thereby combining the functionality of a spoon, a fork, and chopsticks in a stylized figure.

The spork and chopsticks figurine may have foot tips that may be used in conjunction with the two or more additional extending members to perch the utensil above a flat surface in a cleanly and hygienic manner. The utensil may also be jumped into the air by pushing down on it and letting it spring back upwards without resistance.

The spork and chopsticks figurine may also be configured such that it can stack with other utensils that are identical to itself in order to make storage and shipment as convenient as possible.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

The present disclosure can provide a number of advantages over the prior art depending on the particular aspect, embodiment, and/or configuration. None of the particular objects or advantages that follow must be entirely satisfied as they are non-exclusive alternatives and at least one of the following objects is met; accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:

-   (a) to provide a means for the consumption and preparation of food     combining the functionality of a spoon and a fork, commonly known as     a spork; -   (b) to provide a means for the consumption and preparation of food     combining the functionality of a utensil such as a spoon, fork,     spork, or knife and a pair of chopsticks; -   (c) to provide a utensil which is also a figurine; -   (d) to provide extending members that may appear to be arms or legs; -   (e) to provide extending members that may hold the utensil above a     surface in a sanitary manner; -   (f) to provide a figurine that may be jumped in the air by pressing     downward on it and releasing it; -   (g) to provide a figurine that my be stacked efficiently on other     identical figurines.

These and other objectives and advantages of the instant invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of the instant invention. The drawings are intended to constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above, and other, aspects, features, and advantages of several embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following Detailed Description as presented in conjunction with the following several figures of the Drawing.

1. Figures

FIG. 1 shows a frontal view of a utensil and chopsticks figurine in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of a utensil and chopsticks figurine in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows a posterior view of a utensil and chopsticks figurine in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several figures of the Drawings. Elements in the several figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be emphasized relative to other elements for facilitating understanding of the various presently disclosed embodiments. In addition, common, but well-understood, elements that are useful or necessary in commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present disclosure.

2. References

-   10. Figurine -   12. Bowled Recess -   14. Knife -   16. Receiving Area -   20. Tines -   22. Utensil Area -   24. Eyes -   26. Ears -   28. Mouth -   30. Neck -   32. Central Area -   34. Extending Member -   36. Crotch -   38. Chopsticks -   40. Chopsticks Protrusions

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing the general principles of exemplary embodiments, many additional embodiments of this invention are possible. It is understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. The scope of the disclosure should be determined with reference to the Claims. Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic that is described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

Further, the described features, structures, or characteristics of the present disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the Detailed Description, numerous specific details are provided for a thorough understanding of embodiments of the disclosure. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the present disclosure. Any alterations and further modifications in the illustrated devices, and such further application of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein are contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read (e.g., arrangement of parts, proportion, degree, etc.) together with the specification, and are to be considered a portion of the entire written description of this invention. As used in the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”, “left”, “right”, “up” and “down”, as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “rightwardly”, “upwardly”, etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms “inwardly” and “outwardly” generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, as appropriate.

The phrases “at least one,” “one or more,” and “and/or” are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at least one of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B, or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together. The terms “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. As such, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” can be used interchangeably.

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the present invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. Generally; FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 illustrate the front, side, and rear views of one embodiment of an integrated utensil and chopsticks figurine, which may comprise one or more of at least one of the following: a pair of chopsticks, two or more additional extending members, a bowled recess, tines, a knife, feet, and a figurine.

FIG. 1 illustrates a frontal view of an embodiment of a utensil and chopsticks figurine. In this embodiment of a figurine, the figurine 10 is made of: a pair of chopsticks 38, a chopsticks connector point 36, a torso area 32, extending members 34, and a utensil area 22; all of which may be made from a single continuous material such as plastic, wood, metal, or any other material with suitable durability and flexibility. In various embodiments the utensil area may comprise a fork, a spoon, a spork, or a knife. In the current embodiment the utensil area 22 comprises a spork with a bowled recess 12 and tines 20. The spork embodiment may also comprise a serrated or strait knife-edge 14.

Important aspects of the various embodiments are the two or more extending members 34. The extending members extend from a central area 32 of the figurine and either forward or backward. The distal ends of the extending members may be used in conjunction with the distal ends of the chopsticks to store the figurine up off of a surface in a hygienic and cleanly manner. It is anticipated that the figurine will be used by children to eat, and having the areas of the figurine that come into contact with food suspended above a table or other surface could greatly decrease cleaning and transmission of germs. To help facilitate this and to facilitate the functional ease of using the chopsticks the distal ends of said chopsticks may also have protrusions 40 that extend either forward or backward from the chopsticks. If the figurine is made of a single piece of material, or made so that it has sufficient tensile strength, then the entire figurine can be jumped into the air by pressing downward on it while it rests on the distal ends of the extending members and chopsticks and released such that it jumps into the air.

Another aspect of the various embodiments is the decorative elements is that they combine to make the utensil a figurine. It is anticipated that a variety of shapes and forms may be made of various people, animals, and objects. In the illustrated embodiment the figurine is adapted to be humanoid. Some of the features that accomplish this goal as are follows: tines 20 that resemble hair, eyes 24, ears 26, mouth 28, neck 30, the central area 32 may resemble a torso with clothing or hair or similar embellishment, the extending members 34 may resemble arms, the chopsticks 38 may resemble legs that meet at a crotch 36, and the protrusions 40 at the end of the chopstick may resemble feet. In this embodiment the figurine resembles a happy boy. The figurine could also be a bear, a fictional character, a famous person, a mascot or logo, or any number of other subjects suitable for a figurine.

The idea is to combine a play toy with a multi-function eating utensil. Another aspect of the various embodiments is the ability of receiving structures 16 on the back of the extending members 34 to comprise at least one opening and are capable of receiving the front of another similarly structured figurines to facilitate stacking for convenience of storage and shipping. The bowled recess 12 may also facilitate stacking It is also anticipated that there may be receiving structures in the central area 32 and chopstick 38 portions of the figurine to further facilitate stacking

The present invention, an ornamental anthropomorphic spork utensil, combines the attributes of a pair of chopsticks with a spoon, a fork, a spork, a knife, and a toy. The utensil is a useful and entertaining improvement and combination of prior art, with embodiments of the present invention providing new and fun ways to use cutlery and chopsticks. By increasing ease of use and operation, the present invention is advantageous to potential users including western and eastern food consumers, and especially young children and their parents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A utensil comprising: a utensil area; a central area; a pair of chopsticks; two or more additional extending members; ornamental features wherein said ornamental features make said utensil appear to be a figurine; wherein said utensil is one solid piece of material.
 2. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said utensil area comprises a bowled recess.
 3. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said utensil area comprises tines.
 4. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said utensil area comprises a knife.
 5. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said chopsticks have protrusions at their distal ends.
 6. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said additional extending members extend forward or backward from said utensil.
 7. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said additional extending members extend forward or backward from said utensil and wherein said chopsticks have protrusions at their distal ends, such that the additional extending members and said protrusions can hold said utensil above a surface.
 8. The utensil of claim 1, further comprising at least one receiving structure capable of facilitating the stacking of another similarly structured utensil.
 9. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said utensil is capable of being jumped into the air by pressing down in the direction of the additional extending members and releasing it.
 10. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said ornamental features comprise hair.
 11. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said ornamental features comprise one or more eyes.
 12. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said ornamental features comprise a mouth.
 13. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said ornamental features comprise a neck.
 14. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said ornamental features comprise a torso.
 15. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said ornamental features comprise arms.
 16. The utensil of aim 1, wherein said ornamental features comprise a crotch.
 17. The utensil of claim 1, wherein said ornamental features comprise legs.
 18. The utensil of aim 1, wherein said ornamental features comprise feet. 